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GUYS MILLS, Pa. – Maplewood’s run to the 2022 PIAA Class 1A volleyball title sure was a thing of beauty.
It was a run that began with a win over rival Cochranton (25-20, 25-13, 25-23) for the D10 title and ended with a sweep of West Branch (26-24, 25-21, 25-11) in the state final, a run that saw them win every single set.
For Maplewood, it was their sixth state title (first since 2017) and 19th District 10 crown.
“Amazing, unreal, it is all we ever wanted, it is what we worked so hard for,” senior Libero McKenna Crawford said.
The Lady Tigers were swept by Cochranton in their first regular season meeting but beat them the second time around to earn a regular season split. The D10 title match was a far cry from the first meeting of the season.
Bailey Varndell had 34 assists and Sadie Thomas 22 kills in the win.
“I’m a firm believer that everything happens for a reason,” said Maplewood coach Shelia Bancroft after the win over Cochranton. “The way this played out, it was meant for us this year. You couldn’t have asked for more.”
The Lady Tigers carried the momentum over to the PIAA first round, knocking off Elk County Catholic, 3-0 (25-13, 25-18, 25-20).
Varndell had eight kills, four aces, and 24 assists, while Thomas had 13 kills, Elizabeth Hunter seven kills and McKenna Crawford 17 digs.
It was more of the same in the quarterfinals as Maplewood beat Homer-Center, 3-0 (25-15, 25-16, 25-20).
Crawford had three aces in an 11-0 run in the first set, and the Lady Tigers never looked back.
Thomas had 22 kills, Hunter seven and Savannah O’Hara six.
The semifinals saw Maplewood’s stiffest test, as they earned a hard-fought 3-0 win (25-22, 25-23, 25-23) win over District 9 champion Oswayo Valley.
Varndell had 29 assists in the win, while Thomas 15 kills, Hunter 9 kills, Hunter nine kills and Megan Woge four kills.
In the state title match, Maplewood found itself down in each of the first two sets but rallied to win both of them.
In the opening set, D6 champion West Branch (23-1) broke out to a 7-1 early lead and then led 18-14 and 22-19.
Thomas had 19 kills, including eight in the first set.
West Branch led 15-9 in the second set, but Varndell keyed a 10-0 run, serving nine-straight points.
There was no such drama in the third set, as Maplewood led 19-6 and put it in cruise control to win the state title.
“They are all special,” Bancroft said afterward about Maplewood’s sixth state title “Every one of them has a different meaning. These girls were just very resilient. This group of seniors, I can’t emphasize enough, they just brought everyone else around them into that team unity and made this team a good team.”
